[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            TWO U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENTS IN FEDERAL PRISON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cohen). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, soon the page will bring 
forward a photo of two border agents who are now in prison. And it is a 
travesty of injustice as bad as I have ever seen.
  The portrait is of the two border agents, Mr. Compean and Mr. Ramos. 
Mr. Compean has a wife and three children, one, his youngest, 4 months 
old. Agent Ramos has a wife and three sons.
  Mr. Speaker, many of us in the House have made the House aware of 
this case. These agents were convicted last spring for wounding a 
Mexican drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our 
southern border into Texas. The agents fired shots during a foot chase 
with the smuggler, who had fled in a van they were pursuing. The van 
contained approximately $1 million worth of marijuana. The U.S. 
Attorney's Office prosecuted the agents and granted immunity to a known 
drug smuggler for his testimony against our border agents.
  This prosecution has been questioned by many Members of Congress and 
by citizens throughout this country. These men never should have been 
prosecuted; yet they are now handcuffed in Federal prison. We have 
repeatedly petitioned President Bush to pardon these agents.
  Mr. Speaker, after months of silence, the President said in a 
television interview last week that he would take a ``sober look'' at 
the case and a ``tough look at the facts'' to see whether these agents 
should be pardoned.
  I hope that at this time the President and his staff will take an 
honest look at the facts of this case. The facts will tell the 
President what countless citizens and Members of Congress already know, 
that the United States Attorney's Office was on the wrong side of this 
case. The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the agents almost 
exclusively on the testimony of an admitted drug smuggler who claimed 
he was unarmed.
  The drug smuggler received full medical care in El Paso, Texas, was 
permitted to return to Mexico, and is now suing the Border Patrol for 
$5 million for violating his civil rights.
  The drug smuggler is not an American citizen. He is a criminal.
  Mr. Speaker, the extraordinary details surrounding the prosecution of 
this case ensure that justice has not been served. For the sake of the 
agents and their families and for the sake of the American people whom 
they were working to protect, I encourage the President of the United 
States to obtain the transcripts of this trial and review the facts of 
this case as soon as possible.
  Real justice does not fear the truth. Real justice does not fear the 
truth. By pardoning these two innocent men, the President can 
immediately reverse an injustice that never should have happened to 
these Hispanic Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to reiterate that Agent Compean and 
his wife have three children and one, his youngest, 4 months old; and 
that Agent Ramos, himself, and his wife have three sons.
  Congressman Poe, who will be speaking in a few minutes on another 
issue, I am sure, has been outspoken on this--and a number of other 
Members and even some on the Democratic side. This is an injustice that 
should never happen to an American citizen, never under any 
circumstances.
  Mr. President, please look at the facts of this case. Free these men. 
They have no business being in a Federal penitentiary for trying to 
protect the American citizens.
  And God bless America

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